Geneva asks airlines to share kiosks

13th Oct 2006

Geneva International Airport is partnering with SITA to improve passenger flows through the fast-growing airport with the introduction of Common-Use Self Service (CUSS) kiosks for the first time. This will mean that any of the airlines carrying the airport’s nine million passengers will be able to check them in using any of 16 CUSS kiosks located in the international departures area. The innovation will eliminate the need for individual airlines to deploy their own kiosks and allow more productive use of the limited space.

“This will be a great benefit to airlines and passengers alike especially during peak periods such as the winter ski season. Space and time are both valuable and CUSS kiosks are an efficient way of maximising the use of both. SITA is a perfect partner for us in this exciting new development for the airport,” said Geneva Airport’s Managing Director, Robert Deillon.

“Geneva takes its location at the heart of the aviation industry very seriously. The city is host to both IATA (International Air Transport Agency) and ACI (Airports Council International) and it is only right that the city’s airport is leading in the implementation of industry initiatives to make self-service technology widely available to the travelling public,” he added.

SITA is the world’s leading provider of IT applications to airports, and is pioneering the introduction of CUSS kiosks around the world. The Geneva installation follows on the recent deployment of CUSS kiosks by SITA in Basle and JFK, New York, in alliance with Swissport.

“Many of the busiest airlines using Geneva International Airport are now able to avail of this facility including SWISS, Lufthansa and Austrian. BA, KLM, and SAS will soon follow. In fact any airline which is already using our proprietary Common-Use Terminal Equipment or CUTE for checking in passengers at the counter, will be able to use these kiosks,” said Bruno Frentzel, SITA Senior Vice President for Sales.

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“CUTE is globally the most common software deployed for check-in and we have successfully merged the CUTE and CUSS platforms in order to facilitate the entry into self-service for our clients,” he added.

In addition to printing boarding passes and allowing passengers to choose their seats, the CUSS kiosks are also equipped to print bag tags, a functionality that will be activated following further discussion with handling agents at the airport.

Geneva Airport saw over nine millions passengers pass through last year, an increase of 9.5% over the previous year. The airport forecasts passenger traffic growth to reach 14.5 million between now and 2020.——-